The present invention relates generally to interactive television, and more particularly, to a system and method for displaying a sequence of advertisements or other informational images to a viewer, where the viewer selects information sets of interest to the viewer or the information displayed is based on viewer preferences.
The distribution of advertisement via television is well established. Advertisers typically purchase advertisement time on a specific channel and time period with the rate being set by the popularity of programs airing within the time period. The more popular the underlying program or time slot, the more expensive the advertising rate. With the increase in the number of network stations, advertisers are confronted with the task of determining which stations are appropriate for their products or services. It is also difficult for advertisers to select a type of advertisement that will appeal to a broad cross section of the population (e.g., males, females, young and old).
Commercials are often targeted based on the type of television shows a viewer watches. For example, an advertisement for tulips is preferably displayed to a viewer who watches gardening programs. Similarly, an advertiser on the Internet may track the web sites that a user visits and use this information to determine that the user is interested in gardening. A banner ad for tulips may then be displayed to the user. Internet advertisement companies often use a targeting technology that allows advertisers to target consumers through the use of profiling criteria developed based on users activity on the Internet. The decision as to which advertisement to display is made remotely (e.g., cable headend system or server). This requires that information about a user be transferred to a remote collection area, which can create privacy problems. A user may not want personal information collected on his television viewing or xe2x80x9csurfingxe2x80x9d habits and provided to advertisers or other service providers.
Furthermore, from a consumer""s perspective, one of the most irritating aspects relating to advertising is the inability of the consumer to provide any control over the content of the advertisement information. The viewer can only watch what is presented and cannot switch between different advertisements as he can with programs.
There is, therefore, a need for a method and system for displaying advertisement on a television that allows a viewer to interact with the advertisement by providing the viewer a controllable advertising window for display of advertising information or other selectable information, and may also allow a profile to be established on the viewer so that the advertisement presented to the user is in a form that interests the viewer. There is also a need for a system and method for displaying targeted advertisements to a user without collecting information about a user at a location remote from the user.
A method and system for displaying advertisements on a television are disclosed. The television has a controller connected thereto and configured for receiving commands from a viewer of the television.
In one aspect of the invention, a method generally includes displaying a first advertisement on the television and receiving a command from the viewer of the television to display a second advertisement. The second advertisement is a variant of the first advertisement. The method further includes displaying the second advertisement on the television.
In another aspect of the invention, a method generally includes receiving an analog signal comprising a plurality of channels and selecting one of the plurality of channels. The analog channels are converted to a digital signal and a data stream from the digital signal is selected to display a first advertisement. The method further includes receiving a command from the viewer of the television to display a second advertisement, different from the first advertisement. A data stream is selected from the digital signal to display the second advertisement.
In yet another aspect of the invention, a system generally comprises a controller configured for connection to the television and operable to receive commands from a viewer of the television to switch from a first displayed advertisement to a second advertisement. The controller includes a processor operable to combine a video stream of the first advertisement with graphics from a digital data stream to create the second advertisement.
Another method of the invention is for displaying advertisements on a television having a controller configured for storing information about at least one viewer of the television. The method includes receiving a plurality of advertisements at the controller, selecting an advertisement based on the information about the viewer and displaying the selected advertisement.
In another aspect of the invention the controller includes a memory device operable to store information about at least one viewer of the television, a receiver configured for receiving multiple advertisements scheduled for display on the television at a specified time, and a processor operable to select one of said multiple advertisements based on said information about the viewer.
The above is a brief description of some deficiencies in the prior art and advantages of the present invention. Other features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, drawings, and claims.